Month: September 2015

In late September/October, almost all flowers have finished, but the bees can still find nectar and pollen on ivy (Hedera helix). Ivy nectar is high in quality, and high in sugars (49 per cent). The honey produced crystallises quickly in the comb but is normally not harvested, rather it is left to add to the bees’ winter stores. Having access to the nectar and pollen that ivy provides late in the season improves the chances of successful over-wintering for the colony.

Fortunately for our bees, ivy is a common plant in the UK. The flowers are easily overlooked, they are small and green with tiny petals, but the bees and other insects love them as they produce lots of nectar and pollen.

Ivy is generally considered a pest and is often removed due to the damage it is believed to cause to buildings and trees. Recent research shows that ivy rarely harms the trees it climbs and it has recently been appreciated for the extra insulation it provides to buildings. It also has the ability to reduce pollution in urban areas. Perhaps we should cultivate a more tolerant attitude to ivy?

Gallery with ID 1 doesn't exist.Gallery with ID 1 doesn't exist.When we think of the best foods to eat at night, raw honey might not pop into our heads because of how sweet it is, and eating anything sweet before bed typically doesn’t end well.

But raw honey is different because of its natural composition, to the point where some doctors are even recommending it be taken before bedtime.

Fessenen is among those recommending honey as an ideal food for many reasons and to be taken at many different times of day, but perhaps most interestingly before bed in order to support a healthy night’s sleep.

Honey may be one of the sweetest foods out there, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be helpful for your body as it undergoes the repairing process overnight.

As always make sure your honey is raw and organic, since most grocery store brands are imported, contain GMOs, and are oftentimes heated so that many of the beneficial compounds are destroyed in the name of “safety.” In this case it’s best to buy it directly from the farmer.

How raw honey aids in sleep quality (and quantity)

As noted by Fessenden, raw honey contains “an ideal ratio of fructose to glucose,’ to support the liver, an organ that works overtime literally and figuratively, during the sleeping process.

Eating honey ensures that the liver will have an adequate supply of liver glycogen throughout the day, and taking it before bedtime can serve as the perfect liver fuel at night. Combined with adequate, pure water, your body should have most of what it needs to perform its restorative and detoxing functions.

First, it allows for an adequate supply of liver glycogen overnight while your body is fasting and stores are low. He notes that the average adult liver only has about 75 to 100 grams worth of storage space for glycogen, which varies between men and women of different body sizes.

Per hour the body consumes about 10 grams of glycogen during the day, leaving our stores quite low by the time our heads hit the pillow at 11 p.m.

That leaves less liver glycogen than is needed for eight hours of sleep if you ate dinner at 6 p.m., Fessenden says.

However, if you take a teaspoon or two of honey before bed, you’ll be re-stocking your liver with glycogen so that your brain doesn’t activate a stress response, which often occurs when glycogen is low. Honey alsocontributes to the release of melatonin in the brain, as it leads to a slight spike in insulin levels and the release of tryptophan in the brain. Tryptophan leads to serontonin which is made into melatonin in the dark.

In addition to the ability to help us have a restful night’s sleep, honey has a wide range of benefits that have been tested throughout time.

Honey virtually never spoils, as it has been found in Egyptian tombs still intact after many hundreds of years.

The popular sweetener is also anti-fungal, anti-bacterial, excellent for reducing throat irritation, great for athletes, and much more, as this article notes.

Regardless of how you use your honey, don’t forget to buy organic and raw from a local farmer: the benefits of honey have been enjoyed for thousands of years, but they just don’t make it the way they used to anymore (unless you buy from a trustworthy organic farmer or beekeeper, that is).